A news popped on my mobile at 1:30 pm. It informed that the virus had decided to take away a great singer from us. I started watching one of the news channels on the television. Many film personalities expressed their sadness to the channel through phone calls. One of them could not control his sadness and burst into tears. An interviewer on a YouTube channels was interviewing someone I could not identify. Though I had seen the interviewer earlier, she was barely identifiable for she had drowned her face in sadness. The interviewee turned out to be the winner of one of the super singer programmes. He talked through his tears. The interviewer requested him to sing a song. He protested "how can I sing in this state?" He talked for some more time before breaking into an unfamiliar song that the great singer had sung. Two lines into the song he broke down. The interviewer had tears running down her cheeks too. I got off the channel and decided to listen to some of his songs. I decided to avoid YouTube, which had the annoying tendency to insert advertisements between and sometimes in between the songs. I checked Amazon music, which listed a list of Telugu movie songs sung by the singer. I was not in a mood to listen to songs from movies with names like "State Rowdy". I checked the Amazon Music's list of best songs by the singer. The first song in the list was from the Superstar's latest movie and the second was the Hindi version of "Pudhu Vellai Mazhai". I did not think either of the songs fit into singer's "best songs" category. But I was running out of patience and chose the second song. The song played in the background as I went on with my life.
Later that evening, I watched an interview of the singer. It was claimed to be one of his last interviews. He did not look old in the interview. He seemed a few years older than me but his voice sounded much younger than mine. I realized that I had never seen his interviews before. Fifteen minutes into the programme my phone rang and I ended up speaking to the person on the other side for 35 minutes. I did not go back to the interview. The singer recounted the incidents of his life in an amusing manner. He seemed adept at mimicking voices of different people. From time to time, he sang some of his songs. His voice sounded marvellous. The songs filled me with sadness. He could have continued to sing for another ten years. The virus had cut short the lives of many by about ten years. A generation was fading earlier than they should have. I felt older by a generation.
Later that evening, I told my teenaged son "I will tell you something but you should promise not to mention it to anyone". He looked at me suspiciously. I continued "during my college years, I was approached by a music director. He informed me that the great singer had undergone an operation and was unable to sing. He had heard that my singing sounded similar to his and requested me to record a few songs. I was shocked for I never sang - not even in the bathroom. I told the music director so but he ignored my words and pushed me into his car. He took me to a studio. I recorded nine songs in the coming weeks but these were not released under my name. One of them was a big hit too. The music director asked me promise to not sing well from that day. My son, now you know why I sing so badly". I saw boredom on my son's eyes as he looked at me. I asked him to promise that he will never tell this story to anyone. He responded "Don't worry. I will never utter this nonsense to anyone." I shook my head in sadness and walked out of his room.
Sometime that night, I woke up suddenly. My mouth and throat felt dry. Though the night had started cool it had lost it coolness and I was sweating profusely. As I reached out for the water bottle, I heard someone clear his throat from the foot of my bed. It did not sound like my son. I felt a chill run through my spine. I got up and looked into the angry face of the great singer. I tried to scream but could not. The face came floating towards mine. His face was so close to mine that I should have felt his nose touch mine but I did not feel it. I did not think it as odd as I felt it was odder that the face did not have a body underneath. I thought I was in a dream but I was not sure. The singer sang "So, you sang ten of my songs is it?" I mustered enough courage to correct him "Not ten; only 9." He continued singing "Oh! Only 9 and it includes that famous song of mine too, is it?" I did not respond for an odd thought had risen in my head and I could not control myself from asking it. So I asked "how are you able to sing when you are only a face with no throat and lungs?" For a few moments I waited for fire to emit from his eye but it only glowered. He continued singing "Tell me the truth! When did you sing these songs?" I responded "Oh, that was many years ago. I was in college then". He did not sing for a few minutes but continued to glower at me. I looked at the water bottle standing beside me and asked "Do you mind if I have a sip from the bottle?" He sang "drink and then sing for me that song". I reached out for the bottle and brought it to my lips through the singer's face. I took a few swigs of the water. I placed the bottle back on the side table and started singing.
Five words into the song, the singer shouted "Stop!" I could not help but utter "You did not sing that word". The anger in the singer's voice gave way to amazement as he sang "which college did you go to?" I responded "Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya". The singer sounded confused when he asked (not sang) "What! Where is this Guru college?" I responded "Bilaspur". He went back to singing when he asked "... and you say that you sang these songs at Bilaspur". I confirmed "yes, at Bilaspur. In a studio on the first floor of an old brick building in New Bilaspur Market". The singer smiled and sang "Your imagination is better than your singing. You should write and not sing." I felt three pats (not slaps) on my cheek before the face disappeared.
... and so, I wrote this.
